Modern vehicle interiors are provided with lights for the safety and comfort of the driver and passengers. In its simplest configuration, vehicle interior lighting is provided in the form of a dome lamp mounted in the approximate center of the vehicle ceiling. While typically providing functional and adequate lighting, the dome lamp arrangement creates shadows and leaves many areas of the interior without direct illumination.
In an effort to improve vehicle interior lighting, additional lights have been included in a variety of places. For example, lights have been fitted to the underside of instrument panels as well as under vehicle seats to illuminate the floor and footwells. Lights have also been fitted to utilitarian areas such as cup holders. Unlike the dome light arrangement, these lights provide indirect or ambient lighting to the vehicle interior. Such ambient lighting may be configured to provide light to almost all areas left dark by conventional dome lights, thus adding to comfort and safety.
While providing an improvement in vehicle lighting, known ambient lighting typically adds complexity in the forms of lighting elements (tubes, bulbs, or light emitting diodes [LEDs]), switches, controllers, and wiring. According to known arrangements, a relatively large number of discrete components are required to provide the desired level of lighting. In one known vehicle, in addition to a relatively complex web of wiring, thirteen discrete components are needed—four light tubes, two switches, one ECU (electronic control unit) and six LED assemblies.
Regardless of the design, according to current technology several individual ambient lighting components are disposed at various strategic locations in the interior, thereby complicating assembly of the vehicle as a whole. Specifically, wiring for under-seat lights must be installed before the vehicle carpet is installed. Light elements for both under-instrument panel and under-seat lights must be installed before the instrument panel or the seat is installed in the vehicle. This installation arrangement is cumbersome for assembly processes and adds significant expenses in both the planning and execution of vehicle assembly. In an effort to reduce the scheduling and planning burdens, some of these components, such as the wiring harness, are installed in the vehicle whether or not the customer orders optional ambient lighting, thus adding to vehicle cost.
To a certain extent the application of ambient lighting systems has been simplified by assemblies offered in the aftermarket where ambient lighting packages for vehicle interiors are available. These systems, however, are difficult to install and require that the necessary wiring be spliced at inconvenient areas, such as at the cigarette lighter for footwell lighting and at the PRNDL (park, reverse, neutral, drive, low) mechanism for cupholder lighting.
Accordingly, as in so many areas of vehicle design, an improved method of providing vehicle lighting is desired.